The House convened last week on Tuesday, February 26, for the 23rd day of our 40 day legislative session. On the floor, we adopted legislation addressing our continued transportation funding problems, education and local school boards and adoption tax credit.

Georgia is a large state with many transportation needs in both our urban and rural areas. This week, the House adopted House Bill 1019 authorizing the creation of the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank. The bank will provide low interest loans to communities across Georgia for transportation projects providing viable funding options to move ahead with local projects.

Several education bills were considered this week that will impact both local education and the HOPE scholarship. New charter schools are opened every year in Georgia and House Bill 1065 was adopted allowing local education sales taxes to be used for a local charter schools capital outlay projects. Unfortunately sometimes, educating our children means doing more than providing schools. It can also mean ensuring 'bad apples' aren't teaching in the classroom. This week we adopted House Bill 250 enabling the Professional Practices Commission to investigate complaints against educators involving illegal substances and sexual offenses. We also adopted House Bill 1091 redefiningresidency guidelines for students applying to our state universities and for the HOPE scholarship.

With more children every year entering our foster system, I believe it is important that we do everything we can to support those families that give them a permanent loving home.

This week, I supported the adoption of House Bill 1159 providing a state income tax credit for families who adopt foster children. I hope that this measure will encourage more of our Georgians to open their hearts and provide these children with a permanent home.

In the Transportation Committee this week, we passed Senate Resolution 781 calling on the Georgia Department of Transportation to create a state-wide strategic transportation plan and present it to the General Assembly by December 31, 2008. This is a necessary step to provide Georgia with a comprehensive map to address our transportation needs. We also adopted House Bill 1189 requiring the DOT to make an annual report to the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker and chairs of the House and Senate Transportation Committees. The report must include progress made on the Statewide Strategic Transportation plan plus a list of projects realistically expected to begin in the next 5 years, the cost of those projects, and the source of funding for those projects.

I will continue to keep you up to date on our actions as the legislative session progresses. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at my Capitol office. I look forward to hearing from you soon.